Thursday
Today was mostly a hospital day. My Dad was slightly better, but the doctors said they needed to get about ten pounds of fluid off of him.
We talked to doctors, nurses, aids, nutritionists, insurance company representatives, and more. The goal is to keep him out of the hospital.
It comes down to 1) making sure he is consistently taking his proper dosage of furosemide to prevent fluid retention, 2) keep his salt intake down, and 3) make sure he weighs himself every day so that we can take preventive action if his weight goes up too fast in too short a period.
Friday
Today, the swelling in my Dad's legs started to go down and he was feeling a little better. We had some hope for a Saturday discharge.
Linda went downtown with her friend, Joyce, for sort of an "Anything can happen Friday". I can't remember all they did, but they had fun, and I know there was a stop at Wild Rita's for margaritas.
When Linda returned to the hospital, Dad decided he was up for a short walk.
We took a little tour down the hallway and back.
By the end of the day, we had talked to the hospital doctor, a cardiologist, and a hematologist. The goal was still to get more fluid off, but his blood counts were low, so the hematologist wanted to do more tests.
It then looked like a Saturday discharge was a longshot.
During the day, some of Linda's family started to trickle into town for this weekend's family reunion. It's a Nicholas (Linda's maiden name) family reunion. So, it's a gathering of family from Linda's biological father's side.
Her sister, Karen, and her niece, Caroline, arrived from Florida with their husbands, Jay and Brian. So, we went to dinner with them.
More family would be arriving from North Dakota and California tomorrow, and we made plans for breakfast in the morning and then some fun afterwards.
Saturday
Today was Linda's late stepfather's birthday. Van is the man Linda considered to be her "Dad", and we lost him too soon back in 1998.
Today, May 9, was also the tenth anniversary of us moving into our fifth wheel. It's hard to believe we've been living in our RV for ten years now. Many people gave us a year or two at most. :)
Early this morning, we went to the hospital. Dad's abdominal swelling had gone down significantly and he was feeling much better. There was some really noticeable improvement.
After getting assurance, that he was, in fact, doing well, we headed off to breakfast with the family. We took over a wing of a small Denny's diner. :)
Linda's niece, Zoa, and her husband, Matt, arrived overnight from North Dakota with four of their five kids.
Linda and Karen's stepsister, Rhonda (Van's oldest daughter) also joined us and got to meet several of the family members she hadn't met yet.
So, we had wonderful breakfast together. It was loud, but we had a good time. :)
After breakfast, the gals and the kids made a road trip south to Mammoth Cave National Park, while Jay, Brian, and I opted for more of a sports-themed day in Louisville.
We started with the Louisville Slugger museum downtown.
The Louisville Slugger museum is a great place for casual baseball fans and families of baseball fans but, for those that love the history of the game, it's a true museum where you could spend hours checking out the memorabilia.
Here is one of the bats used by Babe Ruth.
He put a notch along the label for each home run he hit with the bat.
And here is Joe DiMaggio's bat, the last of three he used in his 56-game hitting streak.
Those are just two of the most famous bats in the building, but there are many more. And it doesn't really seem like a "museum" as the memorabilia is scattered throughout the interactive exhibits.
After looking around, we took the factory tour where they start by showing the way bats used to be made my master craftsmen on a lathe. White Ash and Maple from forests in Pennsylvania and New York are used to produce the bats used in the major leagues.
It takes about 30 minutes to turn a bat on a lathe, but now everything is computerized and a bat can be produced in about 30 seconds. Photos aren't allowed on the factory tour, but it's pretty cool to watch. After the tour, everyone gets an 18-inch mini-bat. I've owned a lot of those over the years. :)
After the tour, we watched the 15-minute movie "The Heart of the Game". After an hour or so in the Louisville Slugger museum, I was ready to grab some lumber and step into the batter's box. Great memories of my 15 years playing baseball.
Jay picked up his personalized Louisville Slugger, and he was like a kid. It was really nice, and I have to admit that I was sorta wishing I had gotten one, too. :)
From the downtown area, we headed south past the University of Louisville campus and over to Churchill Downs. If you enter at Gate 10, there is free parking and general admission is three bucks.
We found some seats right at the finish line, ....
and had just enough time to place bets for the third race of the day.
We were very conservative bettors and we only stayed for four races. I won two and lost two, netting a whopping sixty cents before we had to leave. :)
Going to "the track" was something we did as an entertaining social activity a couple times a year when we lived in Louisville. But we haven't been to the races in years, and it was nice to get out there today with Brian and Jay.
After dropping them off at their hotel to join up with the gals, I headed back to the hospital to visit with Dad. There was an outside chance he might get to go home on Sunday.
The family group went to watch Linda's brother, Jon, direct one of the three barbershop choruses he directs.
He also sings in one of the quartets.
The family enjoyed the concert, and Jon was happy to see everyone.
It was a long day with lots of mixed emotions. And with tomorrow being the family reunion, with my Dad still in the hospital, and with it being my first Mother's Day without my Mom, I suspect it will be another emotion-filled day.
Sunday
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. :)
We had a lot going on, so I was distracted from the sadness. But I still felt "out of sorts" all day.
We went to the hospital early to spend the morning with Dad and to see if he might just get discharged before this afternoon's family reunion. He was doing well and was certainly ready to go.
The nurse said it wasn't likely he would get to go home today, but the cardiologist said he could. Unfortunately, the admitting doctor had to make the call, and he didn't come in before we had to leave.
We took two vehicles to the family reunion at Bernheim Forest about a half an hour south of Louisville. Just as we found our group at the designated picnic shelter, I got a phone call.
Yep, my Dad was being discharged. So, I turned around and went back to the hospital before I could even say "Hi" to everyone.
It was great that he was going home, but I've been through enough hospital discharges that I knew it would be a drawn out process. I was hoping they would prove me wrong, but they didn't. We were there an hour and forty-five minutes beyond the time they told us.
We got home around 4:00, and I got him settled in. He was so glad to be home, and I was torn between staying with him or going back to the reunion, most of which I had missed.
Dad assured me he would be okay, and he was going to bed early. I made sure he put on his Lifeline pendant and, reluctantly, I went back, though I still had that weird feeling of not being able to focus on anything or anyone.
The one good thing was there was plenty of food left, and I was starving. :)
Earlier, Linda, Karen, & Jon called their Mom in Florida and sang to her.
A little later, Julianne, Linda's oldest great niece, presented the family with a "family tree" that she wanted to plant in the forest.
It was a wonderful gesture, and everyone participated in the planting.
It was just the kind of thing my Mom would have loved - family together in nature having a meal and planting tree. :)
Soon after that, it was time to pack up and leave before the park closed at 6:30.
I called Dad to check on him. He was tired but doing fine. Since he was going to bed, we agreed to join Karen's family for dinner.
Joe, the nephew now living in California, chose the restaurant - Doc Crow's Southern Smokehouse & Raw Bar in downtown Louisville.
We had a very nice dinner and then walked down to the riverfront.
After a stroll along the very smooth Ohio River, we called it a night and said our goodbyes.
It was indeed a full weekend that included the full gamut of emotions. Right now, I'm relieved that my Dad is home and will be okay. And I hope Linda was able to enjoy visiting with her family which just doesn't get an opportunity to get together like that.
It wasn't exactly the weekend we thought it would be, but we certainly have learned to be prepared for just about anything. The key is to not carry the burden of worry about things we cannot control while at the same time knowing that we have the strength to work through the potholes in our meandering road of happiness. :)
Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary on the road. We have just sold our house and will be living and traveling in our rv as of June 11th.
I can only hope our journey will be as successful as yours.
Good luck with your father I wish you all the best with his health.
Posted by: Joanne | Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at 08:31 AM
Glad Dad is out of the hospital and that you got to spend some time with him on Mother's Day. Looks like the reunion was a big success - I love the tree planting :-) Congrats on the anniversary - wow!!
Posted by: Bill and Jodee | Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at 12:54 PM